


Of sweet things

by siberianchan



Category: How to Train Your Dragon (Movies)
Genre: Anyways, Bees, Gen, Honey, I don't know whether to politely disagree or be proud, Implied Toothcup, Kinda, My beta claims it's kinda obvious, but wild raw honey is SO DELICIOUS!!!!!!!, running away from bees is kind of annoying just saying
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-09-30
Updated: 2016-09-30
Packaged: 2018-08-18 16:24:09
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,047
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8168395
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/siberianchan/pseuds/siberianchan
Summary: Just some honey-fetching shennanigans and Toothless trying out new tastes.





	

**Author's Note:**

> So one of my besties was kind of upset that I wrote a certain, leg-chomping fic and demanded something sweet and fluffy.  
> Well, I live to serve and please.  
> (although considering she claims she only "almost" cried, I certainly need to do a better job. Can't leave her un-crying.)

Of sweet things

 

Toothless will probably never cease to be intrigued by humans. This curiosity had been what had gotten him to the Red Queen in the first place, the chance to see them up close, that She had promised to him. It had been later, much, much later, that he had realized that he didn't need Her for this at all and now he delights in watching them.

Humans are inherently fascinating in how they can utilize their paws to build caves from wood and stone and to make teeth and claws and contraptions to catch either dragons or fish.

And one of them had even been clever enough to make an injured dragon whole and take him to the sky again.

And how changeable they can be and be so without even contradicting themselves. They had been so stubborn to fight dragons night by night and then rebuilt what had been destroyed. And then they had accepted and welcomed these very same dragons in their lives and their homes and had been willing – stubborn even – to learn how they could live together.

It is amazing enough that it was almost baffling.

And now, living so close with humans, there are even more things to discover and to find intriguing and strange.

Like the small caves being separate and only for very few people and then there being some bigger caves that every human would visit and meet with others at.

In one of these bigger caves Hiccup spends much of his time, using his clever hands to make so many, many clever things, every single one of Toothless' tailfins being only a small example of the wonders he can work there.

Human mating habits – which tie into the cave thing, Toothless is sure – are another thing he could spend days thinking about, if he ever feels inclined to do so. But Hiccup so far had never shown any real interest in any human to mate with, so Toothless has no reason to muse about it.

But something Toothless will never stop being intrigued by is just all the things human  _eat_ . Fish, of course, just like dragons, because fish is abundant on a windswept, wild island. But they also eat other sorts of meats, lots and lots of them and all of them burnt. Well, human bellies are not good for digesting raw meat (which is probably why Hiccup never had been too thrilled about the fish Toothless had vomited up for him. He'd have to burn it first and Hiccup is smart, he recognizes this for the offense it is. Toothless' human is pretty smart.)

Meat is not even all they eat. Humans are rather inventive when it comes to preparing all sorts of plants for their daily meals, be they roots or leaves and grains, which they grind to a fine powder and then mesh it with some water to a lump to then burn it until it turns into a large, warm-and earthly-smelling stone that is wonderfully soft on the inside and enjoyably crunchy on the outside.

Texture aside though, Toothless can't find much enjoyment with bread.

Same goes for the thick, gleaming mass that hiccup loves to spread over slices of bread, making it look like a bit of the sun with its soft, golden colour.

It smells interesting enough, although not so as to entice Toothless to try it. But mainly, his enjoyment is derived from watching Hiccup lick some stray drops from his fingers and his cheeks. It is always an enjoyable sight, and a reliable one too. Hiccup tends to be a messy eater.

So of course he follows Hiccup when he fetches some clay jars and a satchel and heads out for the woods.

_Fire-gleam-food?_ , he thrills what he considers a good description of what humans call honey. Hiccup smiles over his shoulder as they leave the village precinct and move between the trees.

“Yeah. I found some beehives a few days ago and one seemed pretty much overflowing. And one should always have honey in the house. Gothi asked for some too, so I better get working. You really don't wanna piss off the village healer.” He smiles and carefully seeks out the path that is easiest to thread for both human and dragon.

Once his left leg hooks in a root and he stumbles and Toothless reaches out with his head to catch his fall.

“Thank you.” Hiccup gently rubs Toothless’ head and then carries on until a faint buzzing and shushing fills the air, along with a gentle, warm scent.

Hiccup moves slowly now as he approaches the dead tree trunk that serves as a bee hive.

The buzzing continues uninterrupted and he crouches to the ground, digging through his satchel. Some empty clay jars and one slushing with water. Then, Hiccup scratches together some dead, dry leaves and branches on the ground. “Care to help me out here?”

_How?_ , Toothless quarks, head tilting.

“You wanna set this on fire? Not much, just so it gives a lot of smoke.”

_Why?_ Usually Hiccup is not fond at all of fire that smokes too much. Smoke stings in human eyes and makes them water. Also he knows humans can die if they breathe in too much smoke.

Still, they like the smell of smoke that can ingrain itself into their caves over time. Hiccup claims it smells of home and comfort.

It is amazing and more than just a little strange how the smell of something that can hurt and kill you can be associated with comfort. But then again, he's guilty of that too and he would really not call that a fault, not when Hiccup is involved. (Well, sometimes he will. When Hiccup is being unreasonable and crazy again, Toothless occasionally feels a twinge of reconsideration and re-evaluation of his life choices.)

Smoke, however, has some functions and Hiccup usually knows what he's doing (usually). So he obliges and shoots a very low flame on the pile of leaves.

A thick plume rises, Hiccup eagerly fanning it.

The buzzing increases.

Toothless watches the small insects as they start exiting their nest in increasing numbers and with increasingly angry noises. A few already buzz around Toothless and he shakes his head in annoyance.

“Keep still. Don't piss them off,” Hiccup advises, himself surrounded by the things.

He waits for a bit, continuously fanning up the smoke.

And the buzzing calms down. The bees settle somewhere, relatively placid now, and don't stir up too much as Hiccup, one jar in his hand, rises to his feet, reaches into the tree-trunk and scoops out a large piece of pale yellow-white, that in parts gleams and seeps dark, golden droplets.

Carefully, he brushes off remaining bees before placing it in the jar.

The warm, sunny smell envelops him and mingles with what Toothless has cartographed as Hiccup-happy-content-enjoying-himself.

Dragons for the most part have just an as strong preference for salt as any predator and as any predator don't feel much allure for sweet. Certainly not enough allure for them to risk bee stings swelling their tongue.

Again, humans in their varied, wide diet are really intriguing. Crazy, but intriguing.

Hiccup has filled three jars with lumps of pale, whitish yellow that occasionally bleed thick, opaque droplets.

As he is busy filling up the fourth, the buzzing re-emerges.

Toothless quarks a warning.

“Yeah, I'm coming. Got enough anyways.” He quickly closes the lid to the last jar and packs it into his satchel, before finally hurrying away.

Toothless falls in at his side.

Of course, some of the bees – more than a few, actually – follow them and Hiccup speeds up. “Damnit, they  _are_ pretty persistent –  _ow_ !”

Toothless glances aside to see Hiccup suck on his hand.

_Sting Hiccup for stealing?_ , he snickers.

“Yeah, yeah, I arguably deserved that.” Hiccup walks quite quickly now, speeding up to a jog.

The bees follow.

“Aw, damn it – _ow_!”

Toothless finally has enough and bumps his head between Hiccup's legs and thrusts him onto his back, before speeding up to a run, intermingled with short glides when the trees allow it, until they finally, finally loose them.

Oh in the sky and the clouds, they are running from  _bees_ .

But when they stop, they are actually not that far away from the place where they found the beehive; but the bees seem to loose interest in chases very quickly and they have long since abandoned them.

Hiccup grins and slides from Toothless' back. “Well, let's hope we are just as fast when we meet some Changewings or Nadders next time.”

Toothless snorts.  _Changewings big. Nadders big. Bees small._

“Point taken.” Still, Hiccup is very much unconcerned. Bees are, after all, a rather minor annoyance, even to a human.

He opens each jar, checking in on the prize he has won, and a few bees fly up. One stings Hiccup in the arm and then struggles to get away – it finally manages it, leaving its stinger in Hiccup's skin. It will be dead soon, thanks to this, and Hiccup is a lot more careful when he scoops out the next pieces, moving slowly and letting the bees crawl over him and then take off again. Apparently, he enjoys the soft tickle of them and he watches them fly off with a smile, before examining the pieces of honey comb closer. “Oh, good. Almost no larvae.”

_So more bees next time to run away from_ , Toothless remarks and gestures for the stung hand.

Hiccup obliges and offers it to him. The red spots on his and smell of heat and a weak, very weak venom. Also, the skin is swollen.

_Hurt?_ , he asks.

_Not very_ , Hiccup croons back and pets Toothless' nose.  _And only few stings. Other times have more. And worth it._

He holds up one of the pieces with a triumphant grin. It is a bit broken on one side and thick, warm sunlight oozes out in almost obscene droplets.

“Wanna try?”

Toothless sniffs. At the very least, it is very obviously and definitely not eel, so it is very likely safe to eat. He takes the thing into his mouth and rolls it around a bit, feeling something thick and slick and sticky.

The warm, sunny scent now fills his mouth so solid and firm, that he indeed tries to bite down.

The thing breaks with a satisfying crunch that is felt and tasted and hardly heard.

And the taste of sunlight spreads and fills him.

And maybe, just maybe he rumbles because this is quite nice indeed.

Hiccup smiles and moves another of the pieces in his hands. “Good?”

_Not worth beesting._

_For you maybe. For human very worth it._

_Humans crazy_ , Toothless comments and Hiccup laughs and breaks off a bit from the honeycomb and starts sucking on it, eyes half-closed in obvious delight.

Toothless watches his face move away from the piece. His lips glisten; some honey is drizzling over his chin.

“We eat it, we make drinks from it, we use it for salves, the wax is turned into candles or prayer figurines... it's worth a few stings, really.” He smiles again, licking his lips. “So, you like it or not?”

_Is fine_ , Toothless remarks. Then he cranes his neck a bit, reaching out to Hiccup's hand, which is covered in the thick, golden liquid.

The warmth fills his mouth again, as his tongue wraps around Hiccup's fingers, tasting it intermingling with the salt on his skin and what he usually would describe as Hiccup's scent, fire and smoke and metal, air and seawater and life.

_Better so_ , he finally judges, after releasing Hiccup's hand (with a lot less slobber attached than usual.)

“What?” Hiccup blinks and Toothless would really like to lick the remaining honey from his chin. But he doesn't. Not today.

_Tastes better when from Hiccup_ , he declares again, blinking slowly with contentment.

“Ah.” Hiccups ears grow red and Toothless snickers, coming closer and huddles up.

The human smells of honey and of warmth and life and salt and of the heat creeping up his face.

Sweet, Toothless decides, tastes of teasing him and of him blushing. This is never a bad thing. Sweet is good. Yes, Toothless definitely can get used to sweet.

 


End file.
